The Texans are coaching the running backs differently now

Now that is the way you come out and play football, ladies and gentlemen. Say what you want, but just as I said last week, both teams were tying to come out and execute their plays with success, so weak arguments about how “a game plan” wasn’t utilized will fall on deaf ears on this blog.

Nobody wants to look bad when they are out on the field, but that is exactly what happened to the Cowboys, and the Texans had plenty to do with that. I’m not saying they were the only problem the Cowboys had because clearly the banged up offensive line is a major issue for the Cowboys, but the Texans came ready to play for the first three quarters, while the Cowboys’ starters looked bad to average in all aspects.

Five thoughts from the game

1. Game ball to Amobi Okoye: Okoye played with great effort and intensity, but more importantly, I saw very good usage of hands from him in his pass rushing, which is something that he’s been inconsistent at over the years. The Texans need Okoye to bring this type of game to the field each week.

2. Glover Quin struggles at times in man coverage: The Texans played much more man to man with press coverage than I’m used to seeing. Kareem Jackson has utilized plenty of press coverage coming from Alabama, but Glover Quin seemed to have issues. Quin’s cover skills in general are pretty good, but his ability to stay with his man off the line of scrimmage was an issue at times. The Texans were testing their CBs to see how they would do, and they might have found out that Quin might be better as an “off” corner in man to man or to utilize his press coverage skills primarily in two-deep situations.

3. The running backs are being coached differently: Alex Gibbs is notorious for wanting the running backs to think “cutback lanes” when he is in charge of the running game, while new offensive coordinator Rick Dennison clearly prefers his running backs to think “outside” first and react to cutback lanes. Too often last year, you could see Steve Slaton hesitate as he waited for cutback lanes to develop, and that ended in disaster. This year, Arian Foster is more than happy to ride the outside zone over the left tackle and go with the flow outside. Defenses were defending the Texans from inside out last year, taking the cutback lanes away. That will all change this year now that they are more willing to challenge the edge with their outside zone game.

4. Pollard is the key for the run defense: I don’t want to see Mario Williams, Antonio Smith, DeMeco Ryans or Brian Cushing short, but as long as Bernard Pollard is roaming around the box and tackling consistently, teams simply aren’t going to be able to make a living just running the football against the Texans. Pollard’s aggressiveness will get him in trouble at times in play-action, but he has the physical talent to be a significant factor around the line of scrimmage in every game.

5. The Texans have upper-echelon pass protection: Say what you want about Duane Brown getting beat by DeMarcus Ware, but on the whole, the Texans have proven over the last couple of years that they are one of the better pass protecting units in the game. Matt Schaub isn’t mobile and doesn’t get rid of the ball as quickly as Drew Brees or Peyton Manning, and yet the Texans are very good in terms of sacks per pass attempt. From a technique standpoint, they are very well-schooled across the line and they also play with intelligence when teams try to “run games” (twists/stunts/delayed blitzes) against them. The opening game against the Jets last year was the only time over the last two years where I remember them getting schooled in terms of being ill-prepared.

34 Responses

Lance, thanks for your analysis. I am a huge Texans fan and love the fact that I can come to your blog and get real in depth information. I love to hear about the X’s and O’s of the game, more than just generalization or stat analysis, and you break it down very well. How do I subscribe to View from the sideline? I think I would like that very much.

P.S. I think Duane Brown has looked really good in general this preseason, barring the Ware sack, especially in the running game. What are your thoughts on this? thanks

I think Brown is coming around just fine. Texans have solid book-end tackles. You can subscribe at sidelineview@gmail.com

My game ball on the D side would actually go to Antonio Smith, who was consistently disruptive, especially in the first half. A lot of the big plays made by other players were the result in large part of Smith’s disruption of the play and penetration into the backfield.

My game ball on the O side goes to Arian Foster. Need I explain? I guess one thing to point out is (and I’ve only watched the game once) that I don’t remember a single play involving a Foster run in which he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage. That says a lot about the blocking up front, but it also means the RB is moving forward at the snap. No lost yards is big, really big, in the NFL.

There’s no doubt Amobi Okoye played better this game, but I need to see that intensity and effectiveness for four quarters. Maybe if they spell him with Mitchell, it will help keep him fresh.

I have worries about the Texans’ speed at the corners with Quinn and Jackson starting. Neither one of them can keep up on deep routes with elite receivers or even running backs (did you see Felix Jones run Jackson down on the intercept? Jackson looked gassed, but geez). All I have to say is, Wilson better play pretty far back there and be careful with his angles.

Good overall effort by the Texans; I sure hope they show that level of intensity against the Colts. History casts doubt that they will, first game of the season.

The Cowboys look like they have some major issues on offense; maybe they’re having problems getting interested in the preseason, but they haven’t looked good with the ball at all.

Regards

Eric K

p.s. Is it too early to pick the Ravens and the Packers in the Super Bowl????

I agree that Smith played better than Amobi overall, but I just wanted to give Okoye his props. As for Packers, be careful with their secondary and their offensive line. They are still concerns.

As usual, excellent analysis, LZ. The excuse of “vanilla game plan” is sad. Doubly sad because cowboy fan is too stupid to realize by throwing that out there he is admitting that his team sucked at even the base stuff. Memo to cowboy nation: yes, it is only preseason, however, you can still take an ass whipping!!!

I’m very excited about the changes in the run game. Good riddens to Alex Gibbs’ dogmatic influence on the run game. I counted six man blocking or trapping runs in the first 2 1/2 quarters on Saturday. I think only one of those six runs were of more than five yards, but the variety is good for the ZBS… Teams can’t race into the front side hole or align their front seven with the singular intention of stopping the zone run. Hooray for Dennison!!

What’s the deal with Dorin Dickerson? He had a pretty good game against Arizona’s 2’s and 3’s, but hasn’t played a snap (as far as I could tell) in the last two games. Is he injured or simply not progressing to the coaches’ satisfaction? Will they try to place him on the practice squad? Thanks.

Thanks for the analysis. The Texans clearly were the better team on Saturday. However, any chance that the Cowboys kept it vanilla and didn’t want to show too much before coming to Houston again in a month? I guess that would factor for both teams, but the Texans have a lot more to prove. Thoughts?

Ross, the Texans blitzed more last year than any other season in Texans history, and why wouldn’t they when for the first season in franchise history, they had linebackers capable of getting “home” on the blitz…because they play with instincts, speed, and intensity….unlike Morlon Greenwood who was sucked up into the O-line like the Millennium Falcon was by the Death Star’s tractor beam.

Yep, yep and yep. Fans seems to think the Texans never blitz but nothing could be farther from the truth under Frank Bush.

How did the interior O-line grade out? Do you have an idea on who the best 3 linemen are or who will start and where?

I thought they did well. Meyers is clearly the starter and should be while Wade Smith can look very good or not so good on any snap. I would like to see more consistency from him. Mike Brisiel is steady, but I haven’t seen enough from him this camp to determine how good he is vs. Caldwell.

I agree with everything you said, except I’d have to say Jacoby Jones deserves HUGE props for his performance. I think he outshined everyone on both sides of the ball. He seems to have a better grasp at the offense & what they expect from him. Coach Kubes has to be very impressed this offseason by his performance. He’s come along way since his rookie season & I feel that he could push Kevin Walter for that #2 WR position. What is your take of Jacoby after the Cowgirls game?

Jacoby looked/looks really good. He gets out of his cuts so quickly that he has a chance to be a major factor from the slot…. that’s how I would use him. If he can be a professional on and off the field, he has a chance to be pretty good.

I had Edgar winning the fight before Saturday night, but never thought it would be in such a dominant fashion. I don’t think Penn is done but even at age 31, he does have a lot of wear and tear on those tires. Is it time for him to retire or what do you think will be his next move? 118 was not very entertaining other than the main event.

It isn’t time to retire, but I do think that he’s hit his ceiling and he will start to fall off from here.

So what exactly is the deal with the Browns and James Davis? I know his draft stock had fallen a little before they drafted him in 2009 draft and then he had the injury that shelved him for the season. I also realize they drafted Montario Hardesty in the 2010 draft.

Why do they seem to be giving up on Davis so early?

I haven’t really heard anything about him at all this off-season.

I know Hardesty is the shiny new toy and all — but it just seems like they really never gave Davis a fair shake.

He got hurt and then Harrison ran for over 550 yards over the last three games. They also liked Hardesty coming out of college more than Davis obviously. In the NFL, you have to make the most of your limited opportunities if you are not a 1st or 2nd round rusher. Fair shake has nothing to do with it. Plus, Davis wasn’t considered a tough runner coming out of college.

2009 Defensive stats from Football Outsiders indicate that the Texans brought 5+ on almost 1/3 of the time. And yet as much as I like seeing that stat, it only serves to underscore the fact that the pass-rush is not where it needs to be yet.

Arian Foster could end up being the lynchpin of the entire offense and the key to team making the playoffs. Look at the results of the games where he has started and been the feature back. Wins over quality teams. Although we lost to the Saints he ran well in that game also. I am licking my chops about the first Colts game because the key to beating them has been a good ground game and we have that now. Could we be looking at 12-4 with about 1600-1800 yards for Foster?

WOW! If he has that season, go ahead and pencil him into the top 3 in MVP voting.

Are we really as good as we looked in games one and three? i would rather think that we are and that we got manhandled by a better team in the Saints than to think that we are really good and inconsistent. Inconsistency means that we are going to beat some really good teams and lose a heart breaker to one of the doorstep teams…what say ye?

I would say that judging how they do against the Cowboys is just as accurate as judging how they are doing against the Saints. They played great against Dallas and poorly against the Saints.

LZ, don’t mean to sabatoge your blog here, but wuold like your input. I took your advice on Reef and really enjoyed it. Have been to Benji’s in the village and enjoyed it, looking to take the wife and some friends out again this weekend. Any new or established joints you could reccommend for great food and cool atmoshere? Live in the burbs and don’t make it in the city for dining much. Thanks man for your time!

Quick fantasy question…our league scoring is a little different than most. Base points for TD’s are 3pts for QB and 5pts for RB, WR/TE. You get bonus points for long TD’s so potentially a player could get 10pts for a long TD pass/reception or run. What would be your draft philosophy for this type of set up.

Same as in a 4-6 league. It depends on where I am drafting and if it is a keeper league. If not a keeper league, I’m looking RB/QB in 1st and WR by no later than the 3rd.

It’s funny how Cowboy fans are crying that their team kept it vanilla as if the Texans went out there with their week 3 game plan or something. The running plays the Texans ran didn’t look fancy at all, they were just effective in giving the RB a lane. At least that’s the way I saw it.

It saeems to me that the Texans have the ability to score points and make the playoffs, but I have reservations about sustaining momentum when it is on their side. I want to know where does the break down occur.

The breakdown occurs in two parts – major defensive failures in terms of assignments or inability to make game winning plays in the 4th quarter. I know it sounds cliched, but it is true.

Slaton, Hightower, or Leon Washington for the last spot on my roster (in a PPR league)? I drafted Slaton for protection because I’ve got Arian Foster, but I was VERY tempted to get Washington, just in case he gets his chance in Seattle and does very well.

I don’t know if he has more burst or quickness, but I think he has the confidence to be decisive this year which will certainly make it look like he has more burst.

That’s really interesting, because if you think of the time difference between a guy that we consider to have good burst, and one who doesn’t, what kind of fraction of a second are we talking about? A quarter of a second is a long time when it means some DT getting their hands on you, or missing by a fingertip. And that quarter second can just as easily come from mental hesitation as from physical limitation.

It is astonishing how much of a difference a split-second can make in terms of getting through a hole or getting tackles. 2 yard runs can turn into 6 yard runs just like that.

LZ, I’d like to hear your take. Are we being a bit over-the-top with the Cult of Arian Foster here? We’ve seen Texans RBs have great flashes before, only to fade like a 1970s K-Mart portrait.Is he the gold-plated real thing in your mind?

I think there could be some over-exuberance surrounding Foster, sure. However, he is a great fit for what they want to do.